Biden pardons veterans convicted under law banning gay sex: ‘Righting an historic wrong’
Biden's pardon proclamation is set to affect roughly 2,000 people convicted over a 60-year period
Joe Biden is to issue a pardon proclamation for US veterans convicted under a historic military law banning gay sex.
The news from the US President, confirmed today (Wednesday 26 June 2024), was first revealed by CNN.
It is expected to affect around 2,000 people convicted over a 60-year period.
CNN reports that granted pardons won’t automatically change convicted veterans’ records. However it will allow people affected to apply for a certificate of pardon. That in turn will will help them receive withheld benefits.
“Thousands of LGBTQ+ service members were forced out of the military” – Joe Biden
In a statement, Biden said: “Today, I am righting an historic wrong by using my clemency authority to pardon many former service members who were convicted simply for being themselves.”
“Despite their courage and great sacrifice, thousands of LGBTQ+ service members were forced out of the military because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” he furthermore added. “Some of these patriotic Americans were subject to court-martial, and have carried the burden of this great injustice for decades.”
Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 125 criminalised sodomy between consenting adults from 1951 and 2013. It was eventually rewritten by Congress.
During a telephone press conference, a senior administration official told reporters (as per The Guardian): “If you think about the historical periods where LGBTQ+ individuals were purged from the federal government more generally, in the parallel military realm that was also occurring during the lavender scare, and so the convictions from those eras are indeed covered by this proclamation.”
The Lavender Scare was a 1950s US campaign focused on LGBTQ government employees. It led to mass firings and resignations based on fears that LGBTQs were security risks susceptible to blackmail.